


reaping, sowing, and planting the seeds

by Dresupi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Awesome Darcy Lewis, Botany, Bruce Banner Feels, Bruce Banner Needs a Hug, Darcy Lewis is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Dubious Science, F/M, Fake Science, Fluff, Gift Giving, Holidays, Mutual Pining, POV Bruce Banner, Pining, Pre-Relationship, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Secret Santa, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 13:33:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13077924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: When Bruce draws Darcy's name for Secret Santa, he has little to no idea what to get for her.  It has to be perfect, though.  Because it's Darcy.  And Darcy's pretty much perfect.To add insult to injury, he has tomakethe gift.  He has seven doctorates.  One of them should qualify him to make a simple gift.If only one of them was in knitting or something.





	reaping, sowing, and planting the seeds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ChrissiHR](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChrissiHR/gifts).



> December 20 - Secret Santa
> 
> Special thanks to georgiagirlagain for beta reading this! :D

“Your turn to pick a name, Bruce…”  Pepper shook the bowl in her hand, smiling fondly at him as he carefully reached in and withdrew a slip of paper.  

“Doing this the old-fashioned way this year?” Bruce asked, peering down at his hand, willing a particular name to be scribbled on the other side in Pepper’s perfect handwriting.  Willing, but not daring to hope, because things didn’t usually work out for him, so why would something as simple as Secret Santa take a turn in his favor? 

“Yes…”  Pepper sighed and shook her head. “Tony had a computer program scramble the names last year and it kind of… well… it messed everything up and some people ended up with gifts and some people didn’t… I had to rush out to buy gifts for all the people who’d slipped through the lines of code and…”  She trailed off and wrinkled her nose.  “This year, I thought we’d go retro.”  

Bruce chuckled and unfolded the paper, his heart leaping into his chest when he saw the name written inside in smooth black ink.  

“I got Darcy…” he said, coughing twice to cover up the grin that was threatening to inch its way across his face and give away his feelings.  “Darcy.  Lewis.  I got Darcy.” If he said her name any more, there would be no hiding those feelings at all.

Pepper beamed at him and pulled out her phone to make a note.  “ _ Awesome _ … any ideas for gifts yet, Dr. Banner?” 

He shrugged.  “I dunno.  Gift card, maybe?”  

“Unless you can hand-make one, those aren’t allowed,” she reminded him.  “Homemade gifts, remember?”  

“Homemade gifts.  Right…” He snapped his fingers and pursed his lips in thought.  “I’m sure I can think of something.”  

“I’m sure you can.  Smart guy like you probably has a million ideas,” Pepper said reassuringly.  “I’m anxious to see what you come up with.  I’m sure Darcy will like it no matter what.  She certainly seems to like  _ you _ .”  

Bruce’s face reddened and he scoffed.  “If you say so.”  

“I do.  Didn’t you hear me?  I said it.  Just now.”  Pepper winked and turned to leave.  “Deadline for gifts is in two weeks, Bruce.”  

“Thank you!” he called after her.  

* * *

 

“I’m not skilled in arts and crafts, though…” Bruce said.  Worrying aloud was a coping mechanism that he’d been utilizing often since he’d returned to Earth.  Tony either put up with it or ignored him, but either way, he didn’t seem to mind Bruce pacing back and forth in the lab and talking to himself. “I’m not even sure what I’d make for her.”  

“I don’t think anyone’s expecting you to knit her a scarf or anything,” Tony said. “Geez, what would that even look like?”    

“What are you making for your lucky… recipient?”  Bruce asked.  

“I got Jane.  So I’m making her this robot… he makes sandwiches. You just have to have ingredients in the fridge and he’ll go make a sandwich out of what’s there…  I’m having a problem with his A.I, though…”  

“What’s the problem?  Is he becoming sentient and wanting to take over the world?” Bruce deadpanned, leaning over the counter to peer at Tony’s computer screen.  

“That was  _ one time _ , Bruce. And you helped with that one.  We were both to blame. And besides, this is the exact opposite problem.”  

“What’s the problem with your sandwich bot, Tony?  Has it ceased making sandwiches and is concerning itself with world peace instead?”  

“Well.  He’s become self aware.  And a touch nihilistic.  He still makes sandwiches.  But holy crap, they’re depressing sandwiches...”

“How exactly does one make a depressing sandwich?”  

Tony reached over to pull a plate towards him.  On it was decidedly the most depressing sandwich Bruce had ever seen.  

“Why is it so…  _ small _ ?”  

Tony shrugged.  “No idea.  I think he’s cutting a slice of bread in half longways instead of across.  It’s very efficient and I suppose more healthy, but at what cost?  At what cost, Bruce?”  

“Right, so obviously you have your own issues here…”  Bruce pushed off the counter.  If he started helping Tony, he’d never get started on Darcy’s gift.  

“Yes, I do.  So take your seven Phds and go make.”  

Tony was right.  He had seven doctorates.  Surely there was something in his wealth of knowledge that could be useful in this instance.    

* * *

 

Botany.  

That was the doctorate he ended up using.  

He dipped into some of the exotic blooms he had in stasis, using pollen from the most beautiful and the sweetest smelling to make a hybrid.  It was going to take some work, considering that he only had two weeks to get the thing grown and ready for Darcy’s eyes.  But what was a state of the art lab for if not growing beautiful flowers for the woman you’re attracted to?  

He didn’t have time to grow many generations, but he could get started on it.  If he could rush one of the first generation blooms to maturity, it would buy him the time to perfect the hybrid in the coming months.  

He hoped a first generation hybrid flower was good enough for Secret Santa.

The parent blossoms were a sweet smelling lily and a large headed turquoise lily.  

The former he’d found deep in the valleys near the Alps.  It had a scent comparable to vanilla, which caused many people who got the chance to smell it, to nickname it the Cupcake Lily.  The scent reminded him of Darcy, so it was a natural choice for one of the parents.  She was always baking things, bringing them here to share with everyone, even though she didn’t work in the labs anymore...

Darcy was good people.  

The latter didn’t really have much of a smell except when it bloomed, and then it smelled a little like burnt rubber.  That was to say --  _ horrible _ \-- but it was one of the more beautiful specimens in the genus.

He hoped to be able to breed the scent out of the turquoise lily and keep the color.  

If all went according to plan, the first generation would be ready for Darcy to see in a few short days.  

* * *

“Oh my blob, they’re so  _ pretty! _ ”  Darcy squealed.  

Bruce couldn’t help grinning as he watched her squeal once more and clap excitedly. “Now, these aren’t the final product… there are some… kinks I need to work out…”  He bit his lip worriedly.  “They don’t smell great.”  

“Really?  How could they not?  I’m sure they’re fine. I mean… there’s that one plant that smells like a rotting corpse, right?  It can’t be that bad.”  Darcy reached for the zipper on the mini greenhouse he had them parked under.  The heat lamp inside mimicked a room temperature environment that the flowers would need to thrive.  Normally, they wouldn’t need a lamp,but Tony kept it cooler in the lab than elsewhere on the complex.  

She unzipped the flap and parted the plastic, leaning down to take a big whiff of the flowers.  

“Oh…” she stood back, her hand coming up instinctively to her nose.  “That’s… certainly… different.”  

Horrified, Bruce reached for the zipper, closing the greenhouse, but to no avail, the scent was already wafting around the lab.  

“Sorry… there were only two out of this batch that didn’t smell like burnt rubber… see, one of the parent plants…”  

She laughed aloud and shook her head.  “It smells like…  _ blood _ and rubber. Smells like roadkill.  Oh my gosh…” she fanned her face and giggled.  “They  _ are _ beautiful, Bruce.”  

“I promise the hybrid I give you won’t smell like this.  It’ll smell like cupcakes. You’ll love them, I promise.”  

She smiled and reached for his hand. “I  _ do _ love them. I already love them.  They’re honestly the best gift anyone’s ever given me.  And I got a car for my eighteenth birthday, so I mean… I don’t use the word ‘best’ lightly.”  

“Really?”  Bruce grinned and she nodded, reaching over to envelope him in a tight hug.  He tried not to cling to her, tried not to hug her too tightly for fear of coming off touch-starved or worse… handsy.

“Really really,” she replied.  “Kinda makes my gift look lame in comparison…”  

“I’m sure whoever the lucky recipient is will be thoroughly pleased with your gift,” he assured her.  

“Let’s hope so, Bruce.  Because you’re getting dinner.  Compliments of your secret Santa...” she said, smiling shyly.  

His eyebrows went up.  “You drew my name from the bowl?”  

“Mmhmm.  And you drew mine.  What  _ are _ the odds?”  

“I do have a degree in statistics, I could calculate those odds if you’d like…”  

She laughed.  “OR, you could just come with me and see what I’m making you for dinner…”  

“You haven’t made it yet?”  

“No.  I wanted it to be hot when you ate it…” she trailed off.  “It’s all vegan… because I know that’s how you roll…”  She toyed with the seam on his shoulder for a moment and it drew his attention to the fact that they were still wrapped up in an embrace.  One he was loathe to release her from, but he did nonetheless.  

“Thank you…” he said softly, looking down at his hands.  “Don’t know when the last time someone cooked for me was…”  

“I’d do it more often if you’d let me.”  

He’d let her do whatever she wanted.  But he didn’t say that.  He simply nodded.  

“Happy Holidays, Bruce.”  

“Happy Holidays, Darcy.”  

**Author's Note:**

> *hugs* to everyone! :D


End file.
